Reference guide
Custom food packaging: the complete guide
Custom packaging means branded containers — bags, boxes, cups, tubs, papers — printed with your logo, for restaurants, takeaway and delivery. Chosen well, it turns every order into a communication asset, at the cost of a consumable. This guide explains what to choose, in what quantity, at what price, and how to avoid mistakes.
What custom packaging is for, and who needs it
Short answer
It puts your brand in circulation with every order and makes your image look professional. It concerns any food business selling takeaway or delivery.
Restaurants, dark kitchens, caterers, bakeries, food trucks, franchises. Every bag or box that leaves your counter is seen by the customer, their friends, the street. Neutral packaging is visibility wasted. Branded, it becomes a moving billboard you were paying for anyway.
Packaging is a communication budget, not an expense
Short answer
Customising costs a fraction more than neutral packaging, but builds your brand every time it is used. It is the cheapest and most targeted media there is.
You already buy packaging. Printing it turns a consumable into media. Every bag seen is an ad impression, targeted at your customers and the people around them, at a cost per view no online ad can match. Think cost per impression, not cost per unit.
Start small, without tying up your cash
Short answer
There is no need to order 50,000 units up front. Start with one or two key products in a small run, check the effect, then scale up.
The classic mistake is betting everything at once. Overstock locks up cash and takes up space. Better to start with a kraft bag and some stickers in small quantities, test, then increase when demand is there. Unit price drops with volume, but your cash should never sleep in a cardboard box.
Product families and their uses
Short answer
The main families are bags and pouches, boxes, cups, tubs, papers and stickers. You choose according to what you serve and how you deliver it.
Kraft bags for takeaway, greaseproof paper for burgers and sandwiches, bowls for salads and poke, boxes for pizza, burgers, wraps and fries, cups for coffee and juice, tubs for ice cream and desserts, napkins, and stickers to brand or seal neutral packaging.
Materials and food contact
Short answer
The material is chosen according to contact with the food — greasy, hot, cold, wet — and must be food-contact compliant as soon as it touches the food.
Brown or white kraft, cardboard, greaseproof paper, recycled plastics. Brown is more economical, white gives a better print result. When packaging touches food directly, the material and inks must be compliant. We guide you by product.
Sizes and how to choose yours
Short answer
Choose the size by real capacity. For a bag it is width x gusset x height; use the volume in litres rather than raw dimensions.
Too big means waste and extra cost; too small and it overflows. Volume in litres is the right reference for a food operator. Our product pages show the volume and a proportional diagram that redraws itself according to the size selected.
Minimum quantities: why they exist
Short answer
Customisation requires a minimum production run, often 5,000 to 10,000 units depending on the product and the number of colours, because machine setup and printing plates are fixed costs spread over the run.
The larger the run, the lower the unit price. More print colours push the minimum up. For very small runs, stickers, available from 100 units, let you brand standard packaging without a heavy minimum.
Lead times
Short answer
Allow a few days for stickers ordered online, and several weeks for custom-made packaging, counting from the approval of your artwork.
Stickers in 5 to 7 working days, express available. Custom packaging in around 6 to 8 weeks, production and transport included. Nothing goes to production without your approval of the artwork.
How a price is built, and typical ranges
Short answer
The price depends on the product, the quantity, the number of colours and the finish. The higher the quantity, the lower the unit price. Firm pricing comes with the quote, tailored to your job.
As a rough guide, a custom kraft bag ranges from a few cents to around ten cents per unit depending on volume; a sticker starts at a few tens of cents in a small run and falls to a few cents at high volume. These are orders of magnitude only. Our principle: the best price on the market, or we match your current supplier.
How to choose your supplier
Short answer
Look for a supplier who sources directly from the best factories, quotes a competitive price, supports you on design and stays directly reachable. Beware of intermediaries stacking margins.
The right criteria: pricing driven by direct trade with the factories, design support with artwork approved before production, real responsiveness (quote within 24h), a single point of contact. We are a specialist food-packaging trader, a lean structure between the factories and you, which is how we hold the price.
Franchises and chains: specific needs
Short answer
A network does not manage packaging like an independent operator. It needs brand consistency across every store, rolling replenishment and a single point of contact. That is a central purchasing job.
An independent places a one-off order for one store. A network must guarantee the same identity everywhere, avoid stockouts, avoid tying up cash and centralise invoicing. We become the network's outsourced purchasing and packaging department: sourcing, storage, restocking, managed design, one single invoice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum quantity for custom packaging?
Depending on the product and the number of colours, often 5,000 to 10,000 units. For smaller runs, stickers can be ordered from 100 units.
How much does branded food packaging cost?
It depends on the quantity, the number of colours and the finish. The price drops sharply with volume. Firm pricing comes with the quote, and we match your current supplier, or beat them.
What are the lead times?
A few days for stickers, several weeks for custom-made packaging, counting from artwork approval.
I have no logo or artwork ready, can you help?
Yes. Our studio creates your artwork, you approve it, and nothing goes to production without your sign-off.
Do you deliver everywhere?
Free delivery anywhere in Europe.
Do I have to order large volumes?
No. Start small with one or two products, check the results, then scale up the quantity.
Configure your product, get your price
Browse the catalogue and request your quote, answer within 24h. Or let's talk your project through directly.